Unless you are much better at retaining information than I am, you need a refresher on the life and times of poor old Lou. I'm not going to go back to the first story but I'll copy and paste the last paragraph to the last story. (I had to re-read the whole tale to remember what and who I was writing about......SIGH...)
The next morning, with a vow to not spend another dollar frivolously, Lou packed up his meager collection of clothes, personal items, and one or two memory makers he had taken from his former home, and walked outside. He allowed himself one more Uber trip and chose downtown Fort Worth. He truly did not plan to become homeless but he was sure getting close to it. On the ride west to Fort Worth, Lou made the decision to be dropped off at the Greyhound bus station. He would choose a town that sounded good, buy a ticket, and wait for the bus to load up. Looking over at the bus schedule for something fairly cheap, he chose Graham, Texas. Only $49.00 one way. He walked up to the counter to find the next bus wasn’t leaving until 1 a.m. the next day. He decided to find something else and settled on a town called Alpine. A bus was heading out at 3 in the afternoon. Alpine sounded nice. It sounded almost refreshing. He bought the ticket without even asking which direction he was going. It didn’t really matter. It was a long bus ride away from Arlington and bad memories. He would have some time to really work out a plan as he rode the big bus to his new “home”.
Three o'clock finally arrived at the Fort Worth bus terminal and Lou awoke from a really good, and much needed nap, to the sound of "Final boarding for Alpine, Texas loading at platform two!" He jumped up grabbing his meager possessions and running to the bus. He got there just as the porter was beginning to close the doors on the luggage compartment. Whew! Could have easily missed my ride!
Lou boarded and settled in for the long ride to his new home. The bus wasn't full but there were more people going to Alpine than he thought. This was a good sign he had chosen his destination well. As the bus pulled out of the station and slowly made its way to the interstate Lou was excited to see where he was going. As the bus lumbered onto the interstate and headed west he was a bit confused. For some reason he thought that bus would be heading north. Alpine sounded like a northern town. If he had been thinking he would have known that since the name of the town had "Texas" attached to it, it didn't matter how far north he traveled. He wasn't going anywhere near the mountains. He was feeling kind of stupid but no one knew except him. He would just keep this little bit of information to himself and act like Alpine was just where he thought it was.....wherever that was. Now he felt like he was really on an adventure! "Where are ya headed son?" "Oh, I have no idea..wherever this bus goes I guess."
As the miles rolled along, Lou spent some time reviewing his rocky life since graduating from high school. Man, it seemed so long ago. It was really easy to mess up life by making dumb decisions. And dumb decisions were indeed made. First of all, he fell head over heels in love before even starting his second year of college. He knew then it was dumb but he just couldn't help himself. Next, he allowed Dana to start making decisions for him rather than use his head to reason things out. His grades started falling, his dad stopped paying Lou's tuition, he started to despise his little apartment that he had loved so much....all because Dana made fun of it.
If these mistakes weren't enough, he asked Dana to marry him while he was barely twenty years old! What was he thinking? She readily agreed and started planning a big wedding. Things were getting out of control for Lou but he was in love. Nothing else mattered. Dana was embarrassed her fiance worked at a grocery store so she talked her daddy into giving Lou a job at his car dealership. Lou had loved his job at Kroger but he figured he would enjoy selling cars even more. He felt a little uncomfortable taking the job, knowing he only had it because of Dana being a spoiled little rich girl. Then when Lou's parents started planning the rehearsal dinner at a local franchise style restaurant, Dana was mortified to the point her dad "insisted" on paying for the rehearsal dinner himself. This action, along with lots of little slights toward Lou's parents, caused a distance between Dana and his parents. They didn't feel welcome yet Lou didn't try to fix things. If Dana was happy, Lou was ecstatic. Eventually, after the wedding was over and dust had settled, Lou's parents stopped trying to have a relationship with the new couple....and Lou pretty much lost the family he grew up with. Sad story and Lou felt a huge lump in his throat as he reviewed this part of the past few years. He wondered if his folks would ever welcome him back. He didn't feel like pursuing that prospect quite yet, but someday...
Lou knew he had to take control of his life. He decided his first assignment to himself was to find a job. Well, actually he had to find a place to sleep and then he would find a job. He would take the first thing that came along even if it was digging ditches. When he knew he had a home, an income, and a sense of creating new roots, he would find a church. He hadn't been to church since his parents moved to Detroit. It didn't seem as important to Lou as it did to his mom but now he was beginning to think church might help. As these thoughts turned more spiritual, Lou discovered he missed the old comfort of church, singing the songs even though his voice was terrible, and praying....how did he get so far off track? Right then he stopped, lowered his head, and reintroduced himself to God. He confessed his wrongs, his stupidity, gullibility, and all the other "ity's" he could think of. He even teared up but he kept his face turned to the window so no one would see. After his "Amen", which included a promise to find a church even before he found a job, he felt a peace he hadn't had in several years. "Yep", Lou thought to himself, "You're finally getting this messed up life about as straight as this Interstate 20 we've been riding on for like...forever.
Lou started to enjoy his trip and the view outside after their last stop in Pecos. Leaving Pecos and the interstate, the bus driver took the exit for Highway 17 to the next stop, Fort Davis. "Low and behold, we are going to the mountains," Lou thought to himself. "They sure aren't the Rockies but man oh man, they are beautiful!" (Do you need quotation marks around thoughts? Just asking for a friend.) They were entering the Barrilla mountains after miles and miles of flat old Texas. They passed what was kindly posted as "Casket Mountain, elev. 6183 feet" just before a weird sound came from under the bus. More metallic sounds grew louder as the bus began to weave on the road. The driver was trying to make it to a wide spot in the road when a front suspension gave and the bus lurched to the right. Dropping off the paved road to soft sand on the shoulder caused the bus to teeter over a drop off before finally rolling over on the right side and sliding down the ridge. Luckily, a stand of mesquite trees stopped the slide and the bus came to rest on it's side, on the side of a small "mountain", in the bushes and mesquite trees... and a lot of dust.
Total silence was heard for a few moments, then the screaming and hollering started. No, it wasn't the little old ladies making the noise. It was Lou who had been sitting on the left side of the bus and fell into the seats and windows of the right side, hitting his head on glass and breaking his right femur. There were other injuries of course and passengers were struggling to get out of the wreckage, but no one seemed as damaged as Lou sounded. He had never experienced such pain. As the bus driver worked his way through the wreck giving aid and instructions, he was trying to get to Lou who evidently had a bad injury and wasn't moving...just screaming. Everyone who had already made it out of the bus was dialing 9-1-1, inundating the normally bored operator to near hysterics as she fielded calls while trying to contact emergency crews in Fort Davis. Fire trucks and ambulances arrived shortly and the passengers still in the bus were helped out. Bandages were applied, comforting words were said, and arrangements for hotel rooms were made all while the firemen tried to find a way to extract Lou from the bus without hurting that broken leg more. The fire chief, a man named Ken according to the name tag, got to Lou first and started to calm him down. With soothing words and gentle movements Lou was untangled and carried out of the bus and to a waiting ambulance. Fire chief Ken rode in the back of the ambulance because he had comforted Lou and calmed him down. His calm and quiet demeanor, along with a dry humor that kept Lou from more screaming, was more helpful than the knowledge he would soon be in a fully equipped emergency room....with real doctors!
A short time in the ER left the doctors knowing Lou needed to be taken by Care Flight back up to Abilene. Surgery was needed and Fort Davis didn't host an orthopedic surgeon. The helicopter ride was painless for a drugged up Lou. Unfortunately he didn't get to enjoy his first helicopter experience because he was so drugged up and he doesn't remember it to this day. Lou's parents had been notified of the accident and flew in to Abilene from Detroit as soon as they could get a flight. With a repaired femur, lots of painkillers, and the parents he had missed so much, Lou was feeling pretty good laying in his hospital bed. There was time for healing, physically and emotionally. His parents let him know how much he had been missed and how much love they had for him. All in all, this accident was turning into a blessing....oh, you know it wasn't. Accidents are never blessings. They are wake up calls occasionally and this one certainly turned out to be for Lou and his family. A mended relationship healed faster than a mended femur but Lou got the care and physical therapy he needed while still in Abilene.
During this time of healing, Lou discovered what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He was going to.......haha! Wait til the next episode to find out!
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